Even though the gargantuan shadow of the upcoming 17th annual Florida Film Festival hovers over all Enzian activities this time of year, it’s still business as usual for many of our special programs. This past Sunday afternoon the theater played host to FilmSlam # 3 for 2008, and March’s group of short works by local filmmakers did not disappoint. This truly was a collection worth losing an hour’s sleep over (see: Daylight Savings Time). Presented to a substantial, perhaps bleary-eyed gathering of local film lovers and indie film supporters, six films duked it out for first place honors with the Audience Award ballots and thus an official “bye” into December’s Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase. And once you’re in Brouhaha, you’ve got a shot at making it into the 2009 Florida Film Festival as part of the “Florida Shorts – Best of Brouhaha” program in the Florida Sidebar, the same path that four of 2007’s monthly FilmSlam winners took to get into the 2008 FFF.
So congratulations go to Chris Tharp for nailing 1st Place with his surreal western tale of a coffin builder, THE COFFIN MAKER. Kudos also go out to Patrick Scott Barnes for earning 2nd Place with BLOW SUNDAYS, a doc about open-mic night at a local Orlando nightspot, and Banks Helfrich for WHY?, the 3rd Place finisher that poses 150 answers in 5 minutes to that particular question.
See you all at FilmSlam # 4 on April 13 at 1:00 PM.
–Matthew
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